Life on Forest Edge

Good news is that the weather is wonderful - warmish and sweet-smelling with all the trees blooming in the neighborhood.

Not so much my yard. I wandered around the yard with my camera and found a few bright spots but more things that need a lot of work. The weeds have a head start already in the herb bed, but I do see the rosemary under them all, and a couple of others.

The rose has buds.
And the maple tree is putting out those sweet little leaves.

The strawberry plants are blooming along with the pansies, and that clematis that I thought had not made it through the winter is budding under the pyracantha blossoms.

This lantana is a problem. It's gotten so woody that I can't get it up without a lot of digging, and it's blocking Darby's dog house.

Not that she ever goes in it. She just sits at the back door and shivers and looks pitiful when it rains.

I've mentioned the tree before that the yard boys kept mowing down, but this past year it's gotten big enough to fight back.

I called it a ginkgo at first because I had no idea what it was. I made an Arbor Day donation once and received a bunch of little sticks that I started in various places. I grew the dogwood in a big pot for a couple of years until it died, and there is another one that's slowly growing. But this one seemed to like the place it was planted (in spite of the trimmings) and is rewarding me with blooms.

Alan told me it was an Eastern redbud, I think, or some sort of redbud, and I do believe it is. I think it's going to be pretty in a few days/weeks.

So what I have I done this week? Looks like break things. My computer keeps giving me threatening messages and blue screens in spite of about 4 virus protectors and anti-malware things I've installed. I have everything important saved, so I'll take it downtown tomorrow for the guys to take a look at it and try to revive it.

Mama's computer turned pale today, and she can barely read her emails. She said she was dusting it, so I've played around with the controls but can't seem to make a difference. She may need a new monitor.

And the 3rd in the string of bad luck is the worst of all. My workhorse embroidery machine.

It's worked so hard these past few months embroidering all those little designs for Isley's quilt without a glitch, but I tried to do a simple little applique last night for Emily with these fabrics

(so she doesn't lose hope on my starting her quilt) and it wouldn't go to the center of the hoop. I messed around with it a little bit and decided the carriage is way un-calibrated - maybe even broken. I don't remember doing anything different, but it sure looks a little wonky and won't go to its proper home when I push that button.

So it's off to Opelika to get that fixed but not until next week. I hope the repairman doesn't find a cat toy or something blocking it.

In the meantime, I made a few more blocks for Elise's quilt. It takes over 100 pairs of blocks, so I'll be working on this for quite awhile.

I made a trip to the library yesterday and decided not to go downtown and just take what the Pike Road one had. Not much in terms of audio books, nothing really. I'll try these 2 but don't have much hope for them. I started one of the books last night and struggled through a couple of chapters and gave it up. Boring. I'll start the Ken Follett one and see how that goes. The other 3 ambitious books I brought home are the interesting one about "Parenting Your Dog" with some good ideas for trying to get your ideas into their little brains. One is a sewing book that I read to Emily last night without her having the benefit of the pictures, and another is a landscape book - just for fun. No pressure on anyone. Not at all.

And since I had to make my weekly trip to Wal-Mart with Mama, I rewarded myself with these 3 bright dish towels.

And that's it for another week.